Weld Sheet Metal Without Warping

It s not so much the heating process that causes the warping but the cooling down afterward.

Weld sheet metal without warping.

Design and welding should be addressed to minimize this sort of warping. Use intermittent welds instead of continuous welds where possible to minimize the amount of weld metal. We ve heard all of the tricks in the book but none of them completely stop the warping. Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in case you do anything wrong.

The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage. The metal s shape has been altered often very slightly by the heat yet it wants to return to its original shape as it cools.

The main reason to use a smaller diameter wire is that it takes less heat for melting and hence the metal around the weld is not heated to a very great extent. Another alternative is to surround the area you re welding with an anti heat compound that will block the heat from spreading to the rest of the panel and potentially reduce warping in the panel. Correctly sizing a weld not only minimizes distortion but also saves weld metal and time. Our copper weld backers help to keep a welds from blowing through the metal and also act as a heat sink.

Weld failure due to the warpage of the base metal can have disastrous consequences. Only reduce or control it. The fact is that no matter how good or careful you are metal will warp when you re welding on sheet metal.